Black Pirate (Jon Valor)

According to the DC Comics account, Jon Valor was an English privateer of the 16th century who was accused of murdering his son Justin and was hanged in the port that later became Opal City. Before or at the time of his death a curse was placed such that no person who died in that place, nor Valor's old crew, would rest until Jon's name had been cleared. In the modern narrative, investigators (including Hamilton Drew and Ralph and Sue Dibny) ultimately prove Jon's innocence; when his name is cleared his soul is freed and, as the story records, every soul that had ever died in Opal is freed as well.

In the Starman series the Black Pirate "appears as a mysterious shadowy form": a spectral, shadow‑like manifestation that aids the living hero Jack Knight. The provided sources give no further detailed physical description beyond this characterization as a mysterious, shadowy ghostly presence.

As portrayed in the comics, Jon Valor's ghost can communicate with the living (he contacts Jack Knight), manifest as a shadowy spectral form, and act against mortal adversaries — the narrative states he helped Jack Knight fight a crime wave and "slew many of the Mist's soldiers." Crucially, he is credited with having crafted a curse that prevented anyone who died in the port/Opal City (and his old crew) from resting until his name was cleared; proving his innocence in the story releases not only his soul but all the trapped Opal souls.